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Uber is beginning to track the locations of riders up to five minutes after a ride has ended:
As promised, Uber is now tracking you even when your ride is over. The ride-hailing service said the surveillance—even when riders close the app—will improve its service.
The company now tracks customers from when they request a ride until five minutes after the ride has ended. According to Uber, the move will help drivers locate riders without having to call them, and it will also allow Uber to analyze whether people are being dropped off and picked up properly—like on the correct side of the street.
"We do this to improve pickups, drop-offs, customer service, and to enhance safety," Uber said.
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Uber Now Tracking Users After the Ride is Over
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It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
(Score: 2) by GlennC on Monday December 05 2016, @03:53PM
This is yet another reason why I won't use Uber...or any other unlicensed taxi service.
I'm not going to go so far as to say that nobody should use them, but I won't.
Sorry folks...the world is bigger and more varied than you want it to be. Deal with it.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Monday December 05 2016, @04:30PM
anything I can't do anonymously (like a phone call or email; both of which I can spoof if I need to) I won't do with an app!
app. sigh. app now means 'no way to know what its doing, zero trust in it, probably has bad intent as well'
until we can fully firewall apps and have control over THEM, I refuse to install apps. my app collection is a handful if even that.
its so sad that we have nearly total control over a real linux box but nearly NO control over 'same' linux that happens to run on a touch device that fits in our pocket.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday December 05 2016, @07:35PM
Uber is licensed as much as any other cab company in the U.K.
(Score: 2) by GlennC on Monday December 05 2016, @08:03PM
I didn't know that. Good for them, but as far as I know they're still operating in a legal gray area here in the U.S.
Given this increased snooping from their app, even if they were completely abiding by all U.S. regulations, I still wouldn't use them.
Sorry folks...the world is bigger and more varied than you want it to be. Deal with it.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday December 05 2016, @08:40PM
I didn't know that. Good for them, but as far as I know they're still operating in a legal gray area here in the U.S.
That was true just a few years back, but now that really depends on the specific municipality. In many places, they've accepted various local regulations like other livery services (or some variant of those regulations), as long as they don't interfere with their business model. So you should really check with a specific state or city to see whether Uber is operating under an officially regulated capacity or not. In some places, they've deliberately shut down an existing service or refused to enter a market if they know their presence (and what they're willing to do) would not satisfy local regulations. In other places, they're still "negotiating" with the local authorities.